Brutus Ethos In Julius Caesar

In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Brutus is a skillful orator who makes use of rhetorical devices to convey his points. In his speech made after the death of Caesar, Brutus uses devices such as ethos, parallelism, and rhetorical questions to persuade the people to his way of thinking. Ethos is when a speaker gives an example of credibility in order to appeal to the listener’s ethics. When Brutus asks the people to “believe me for mine honor, and have respect for mine honor” (3.2.14-15), he is using ethos to appeal to their morals in order to make them consider his opinions. The use of ethos exhibits Brutus’ need for the people to approve of him, and by extension, the assassination of Caesar. Later, Brutus utilizes parallelism

when he proclaims “there is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition” (3.2.22-24). This is an example of parallelism because all of the sentences display the same structure in order to sound more pleasing. He uses parallelism because he wishes to emphasize that he was a supporter and friend of Caesar, and betrayed him only because he feared Caesar would harm Rome. Brutus also uses rhetorical questions to reinforce his stance. One example of a rhetorical question used by Brutus is when he asks his audience: “had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men?” (3.2.20-22). This is a rhetorical question because Brutus does not expect an answer, but instead wants to leave a lasting impression to make the Romans consider his point. To conclude: Brutus uses many rhetorical devices to enhance his speech and persuade the Roman people of his opinion.